Rise of the DEAD
by Suekeiichi Kaiton
Summary: Ranma / NOTLD / Zombie crossover. Biotech agent Ranma Saotome fights to thwart the evil plans of Umbrella Corporation. Rated 'R' for violence.
1. Biotech Mission Briefing

A single man dressed in black hunched over a computer screen in the bowels of the Biotech labs. Only the echo of clacking keys broken the tomb-like silence of the chamber.

Begin Mission?

Yes.

Commencing mission in fivemission start. Background?

Yes.

Background: In 1968 a major divergence occurred in the United States of America. NASA probes brought back mysterious radiation from Venus which re-animated the recently dead, all those that were killed and/or eaten by the zombies' re-animated as well. The radiation burned away and was forgotten as the National Guard wiped out the remaining dead. America prospered until a resurgence in 1979 when deadly gases were released in Pittsburgh by nearby Carnegie-Mellon University which produced a related effect of re-animating the dead, this too was contained and destroyed. 1985 showed a renewed interest in the events of the plagues and another outbreak destroyed the entire eastern seaboard of the USA before extermination and nuclear attacks joined with combat units of the National Guard eliminated the threat and all records of the disease. In post-2000 years the international enterprise Umbrella Inc. developed the T-Virus, a mutagenic toxin for use in bioweapon experiments. Released at a distant mansion lab near Raccoon City, USA the virus spread as Umbrella continued research that culminated in the birth of the "Tyrant" series, the so-called ultimate weapon. Umbrella quickly covered its tracks and came to full worldwide prominence as a biomedical organization. Umbrella caused the ZOMBIE plague that still effects the Earth today. Umbrella researchers have since mastered the "Tyrant" process as Biotech remains the sole defender of the public against the unscrupulous hounds of Umbrella. Datatrack records show several incidents along those of the criteria occurred in the 1980's, details?

Yes.

First login: 1985-Uneeda medical supply company. United States.

After ZOMBIE outbreak in 1979, the creatures were packed into titanium drums and frozen to prevent further contamination. One shipment was left in the basement of the Uneeda Medical Supply Company of Louisville Kentucky and released in July of 1985. The gas (see 245 Trioxin) was released into the atmosphere and ZOMBIE creatures overtook the town, the incident was finally resolved when Col. Dwight M. Glover (Secretary of Defense at that time) ordered a nuclear strike.

Second login: 1988-Bayview City. United States.

After the release of information following the ZOMBIE attack of 1985 (see login: 1985-Uneeda Medical Supply Company) Col. Dwight R. Glover ordered the destruction of all related lab work and documentation regarding the virus and other reagents. A military toxic waste unit, while driving through Bayview City was run off the road. A barrel containing a freeze dried victim of ZOMBIE was later freed by locals starting the final unrelated mass epidemic of ZOMBIE in the United States. Files read. Search again?

No.

Begin mission?

Yes.

Waitnecessary armaments being allocated to the defense griddone.

Access Main Database. Password Wild Horse.'

Done. Welcome to Biotech's main defense Datatrack.

Allocate particle beam and plasma cannons to agent 12.

Allocating to Agent Ranma Saotomedone. Armaments allocated. Done?

Logout.

Logging out.done.

---Elsewhere---

It was the howling, those awful grating gasps that echoed up from the chambers, that really frightened people. It was the abhorrent cacophony of the multitudes of tormented souls loosed from Hell. The inhuman growls chilled the blood. Many ran from the labs, afraid of the creatures kept under lock and key, loosing their sanity or their very lives in the process. He knew they couldn't hurt him but they still unnerved him, their salivating mouths howling in the darkness.

---End---


	2. Chapter One

Rise of the Dead

A Ranma 1/2/ Living Dead fusion

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is copyright Rumiko Takahashi and Kitty film, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead are copyright George A. Romero. Aside from these, other series such as Resident Evil, Evil Dead, Re-Animator or Return of the Living Dead may appear as well.

Quantum Timeline Year 2390

---Safe haven jumpstation---

Ranma Saotome stood on a shiny silver platform in one of Biotech's many dimensional gatehouses,' awaiting his orders. Upon connection with the Biotech Datatrack system, weapons would be given to him for the course of the mission, weapons that he could configure before a mission started for you see, it was all a game to him. The dimensional doorways were a way for normal information to be turned into weapons, nearly any weapon could be created by the Datatrack and used by operatives.

"Agent Saotome!" Col. Zentaro Choiler oversaw his transport. "You are to go into sector 56 which is unexplored and save civilians in a fifteen mile radius of your position, is that clear?" The colonal was a military man, a slight underbite on a face made of granite. This head sat atop heavy broad shoulders. Barrel-chested, many young female cadets considered him to be the living embodiment of testosterone. This idea was not completely unfounded as he did have the tendency to fly off the handle for his own male pride, hence his promotion to supervisor.

The figure was one that struck fear into the hearts of even the highest generals of Biotech, a lean young man that was the best at one thingmeasuring out death. Biotech was an enormous heavy manufacturing company that came to power in Quantum Timeline Year 2340 and pioneered the field in bio weapon engineering. During that time the possibility of divergent alternate realities was posed by Dr. Hiroshi Yoshima at Tokyo University, and a few years later saw the opening of the first dimensional doorway. Biotech proposed that the doorways should be used to track down people from other dimensions overrun with the ZOMBIE virus and take them to safety, essentially creating a safe dimension for all living things. To this end Biotech organized a team of Agents' or enforcers whose job entailed the rescue of civilians and the destruction of the undead. Ranma Saotome was one of them.

He was born in the upper west side of Nerima by Biotech executives Genma and Nodoka Saotome and attended the local Biotech education facility. Growing up in Nerima was tough, as the borderline with the "Deadlands" began in the area and the residents were constantly fending off the undead. Ranma grew up with a loving family and kind friends but also took an interest in the martial arts, quickly becoming the new star of the martial arts circuit. At the tender age of sixteen Ranma was inducted into the enforcer squad where he swiftly moved up the ranks and received the title "Agent." Upon earning his Biotech status he married Akane Tendo, a school love, but their love was not to last, frequent fights and violence disturbed the household and they were divorced a year later.

"Yes sir! Permission to rescue possible citizens?" Ranma was a handsome eighteen year old with chiseled features and a great physique. He wore a skin tight black cat-suit with a communicator CODEC affixed to his chest. A ragged mop of black hair sat atop his skull complimented by a short pigtail. He was looking forward to the possibility of acquiring a new wife, any refugees from dimensions could return and marry government officials to become Biotech citizens.

"Granted. Good luck agent." Choiler nodded his thick head and his hulking bulk was haloed for a millisecond by the transport light. "Our prayers are with you."

---Universe 256---

A ragged newspaper dusted the pebbles off the sidewalk. The street lay open before him like an all-enveloping maw with jagged buildings for incisors. The newspaper lifted from the gutter and was propelled by a gentle breeze. It held the headline "THE DEAD WALK!" Ranma Saotome was here, in Universe 256 sector 56, armed only with a CODEC and his wits; both, of course, were all he needed. A grating, wheezing sigh burst from the alley and a shambling thing loosed from a hellish nightmare stumbled into view. His CODEC beeped.

A CODEC was a portable radar device used by Biotech agents, it stored the weapons inputted by the mainframe defense Datatrack and held detailed maps of the area within twenty meters complete with location of ZOMBIE carriers. Ranma had the newest model, one that could easily hold sixty armaments without slowdown and kept his enemies on screen. He picked the bright green button on the left and depressed the recall switch, blinding arcs of multicolored light split the fabric of reality and a mine thrower was placed in Ranma's hands. The slick, smooth finish drew his fingers to the trigger, a cocked hammer later Ranma fired a volley down the alley; he was rewarded by the distinct sound of skulls splattering over the walls.

[Good old mine throwers will never let you down.] Ranma had a grudging respect for the weaponry of the twentieth century, well made, well crafted, and deadly. A mine thrower was a basic arm, after the high-speed shell left the chamber it was thrown with a homing sensor to the target, twisting in the air to accomplish it's goal. He ran through the dank sewer and noticed that a large homestead loomed to his right, checking his CODEC and determining he had a good few hours before he had to use _that_. He walked in.

It was a traditional Japanese design, with distinct Asian motifs. A lurching ZOMBIE fell over in the yard and barred his way, it's red eyes glowing with hunger and promises of death. Behind it a carmine eyed woman missing portions of her stomach stumbled out of the patio, her breast flapping with the motion exposing the ribs beneath. Ranma called on his cougar and fired two shots with precise accuracy at their heads. Soun Tendo's head burst in a spray of gray matter and gore, his shoulders becoming a fountain of blood as a bullet tore through his brain. Akane Tendo's chest was punctured by the round but was otherwise unharmeduntil her chest exploded sending her lung off into the house and her head bouncing to Ranma's feet. He kicked it away, long since unaffected by an analog's death.

The CODEC detected one more ZOMBIE inside the house, he spun on a heel speeding into the livingroom and pumped Takewaki Kuno's torso full of lead. He ran for the kitchen and leapt over the table continuing through the house until reaching the stairs. Blood pooled in his boots and he could taste the coppery tang of blood in the air, the shoes squishing up the steps. The wooden floor was smeared with red gore, recently done, and blank eyes swept through the darkness searching for a remorseful heart. A body lay on the landing. Ranma knelt to examine the body, a fresh kill by the look of it, neither gangrene nor maggots had permeated its flesh yet. The brown haired girl was his age, by the look of it.

Looming, plain, and strongly secured, a door was placed at the end of the hall, a brilliant line of white spilling from within. With the house secure enough Ranma rummaged through his pockets for his laser pen, a gift from the President himself. A long narrow tube was pulled out and blue light concentrated into a beam flew from the tip, burying itself in the boards. Ranma deftly sliced the boards away, the wood melting like gelatin before the blue-hot beam. Thin, knotted wood burned away in the face of such a heated ray, the metal lock melting from the strain. Ranma swung open the door and smelled death through carmine eyes on the horizon.

He entered, footsteps like whispers in the wind, and spun around just as a woman came barreling through the door and impaled his shoulder with a knitting needle. Unable to see behind his shoulder, Ranma backhanded the poor girl and wrenched the needle from his arm, withdrawing a nanite wound patch. With his gash deftly covered and the blood ceasing to seep from the wound, he looked at the unconscious girl sprawled on the bed. Depressing the recall switch his weapons disappeared and he administered first aid to the fallen.

A slow drip caught his attention, however, a thick agonizing sound that resounding through his soul, sending ripples into his heart. A red stain began to creep its way along the fabric of the girls dress; glancing up he examined the body of a young man, no older than twenty five, dressed in a black gi with wire-rimmed glasses that were bashed into his eyes. He hung from the dresser, his eyes dripping gore onto the girls primly wear. His chest had been ripped open from the inside out.

"Hey! Hey! Wake up!" He gently tapped her face as she began to stir. Her beautiful green eyes opened with fear, scared of seeing another member of her family killed by an undead monster. He saw the briefest glimpse of fear in her eyes before she realized that he was alive, and didn't want to eat her (her flesh that is, he was keen to taste other parts of her though). Her chest rose and fell in quick erratic spurts and her blood pressure was dangerously high.

"W-who are you? What do you want? Oh!" He eyes widened in shock at the face before her. Good, it seemed that she was lucid. She was wearing a conservative housedress of yellow with a brown skirt that reached her ankles, deep oaken locks fell down her back tied with a white bow. She was an angel, cast adrift in a sea of Hell; an outcast in a land of the dead. There was a faint luminescence from her green eyes that seemed to bend the available light around it, funneling the energy straight to his soul. [She seems nice enough.]

"I'm sorry you'll probably faint when I tell you. My name is Ranma Saotome, and I come from another dimen" The words hadn't even been issued forth before she fainted in a crumpled heap at his feet.

---Later---

Ranma left the house through the rear entrance, kicking a stray can down the road. He had left a note and a holocube on the night table and secured the doors, she'd be safe enough. The CODEC detected at least two more survivors in the fifteen mile radius, one wounded, one dying. The dying one would have to take priority, saving any people he could was his mission, and he didn't intend to fail.

---Much later---

"Hmm? What? Ranma?" Kasumi awoke with a start, her emerald eyes gleaming with sleep. When she scanned the room for her mysterious savior and saw no trace, she broke down and cried then. In her sobs she dismissed the strange cube and note hastily left on the table. Of course, how would that strange traveler know that she had loved a boy called Ranma Saotome all her life in this world, and seen his bloody death at the hands of those monstrous things creeping about outside. 

Kasumi Tendo was the eldest daughter of Soun Tendo, a beloved town figure and local martial artist. On her seventeenth birthday her father had arranged a marriage between her and a local chiropractor, Tofu Ono; family honor was at stake, and Kasumi would obey the wishes of her dead mothernever tarnish the family honor. They had lived peacefully for many months doing all the things that married couples do, accept consummating their love, for you see there was no real love in the relationship. Tofu was a pathetic excuse for a man when in the presence of Kasumi and frequently fell all to pieces, in short he just wasn't mentally stable. Her life changed about a year after their marriage.

---Flashback---

It was in fall, and she was walking back from the market. Bundles of groceries weighed her down as she walked through the winding streets. Tofu was at a seminar in Juuban for the week and the forecast called for snow, Kasumi was just stocking up.

"Need any help?" Ranma was wearing a red Chinese style shirt and black Kung fu pants. A school bag was balanced on his head. "You look like you can't carry all that stuff. Let me help." He took three bags from her.

"Why thank you"

"Ranma, Ranma Saotome."

"Thank you Ranma, I live just down the street, my name is Kasumi Tendo." She had kept her maiden name and refused to wear the ring out in public. She saw his gaze fall to her hand, focusing on that particular finger. [I'm glad I didn't wear it today then.] "Where do you go to school?"

"Oh down at Furinkan High, eleventh grade. Let's get a move on shall we? It's starting to snow." She hadn't even realized the puffy bits of white that now dusted her shoulders. They began to walk and Kasumi found herself absentmindedly gazing at Ranma, his physique, his sharp features, his cute butt, but stopped herself because it was an improper thing for a married woman to do. Stillthe idea was _very_ tempting. [He's only a year younger.]

They reached the clinic just before it got really bad, and warmed themselves in the kitchen. Ranma wasn't going to leave until the snow stopped, so Kasumi offered him dinner. [It'll be good to finally make dinner and not have the poor guy fall to pieces.] "You said you attended Furinkan Ranma-kun?"

"Yeah. Rising star of the martial arts circuit." Evidently a man of few words, rather he seemed to project his emotions instead of voicing them. Kasumi found that oddly comforting, not having to speak all the time.

"Do you happen to know a girl named Nabiki Tendo?" She had finished the vegetables and was starting the stir fry.

"The self proclaimed ice bitch?' Of course! She's always conning me out of something, but she's pretty cute too." He seemed lost in thought.

"Do you know a sophomore named Akane Tendo?" Nabiki's underhanded ways always irritated her.

"Yeah, she fights all the time, y'know, boys and everything." He was practically salivating as she served the meal.

After dinner they had talked for a little while longer until Ranma stood up and regretfully informed her he had to leave. She was desperately grasping at something to keep her sanity and this kind, helpful boy seemed to fit the bill. She rolled around the idea of seducing him, but dismissed it because she didn't want the relationship to be purely physical. And after all, she was still a virgin.

"I'd like to do this again Kasumi. Can I come after school tomorrow? We can finish this talk."

"Sure Ranma, would you like to stay for dinner again?"

"I'd love to."

And so their romance began, starting with an innocent gesture while Tofu was gone and continuing as an illicit affair behind his back. Ranma was, needless to say, stunned when he found she was married but their love continued until the end of spring. During the winter they had come to love one another, depend on each other, trust one another; and Kasumi gave her virginity to the only man she ever truly loved. Even when the disease struck Tofu never knew.

---End Flashback---

It was too cruel and horrifying for Kasumi to bear looking at Tofu's eviscerated corpse. In the end he had known, and saved her all the same. Ranma lay in a torn apart heap outside the school when seven corpses rose and ripped him to shreds. The tears came again, not for Ranma nor for Tofu but for her second chance to make everything right. She noticed the note and holocube then.

"Kasumi,

I've fixed the doors so nothing will attack, and left you a gun, use it if you have to. I'm sorry I had to leave but my mission is to rescue any survivors, the cube will tell you everything else. To activate it push the black side.

Ranma."

Kasumi looked in wonder at the white die, seemingly made of ivory except for one side; pressing the activation switch, she watched as a life-size hologram of Ranma appeared.

"Kasumi, I'd like ta explain everything to you but I don't have enough time. I come from anther dimension. I know this may be hard but you must listen. I am an agent' of the Biotech corporation sent here via dimensional gateway. The ZOMBIE are all around you and have infiltrated numerous universes, my job is to rescue you and bring you back to my world. Once there you will be safe. I will return in one hour and we will depart, pack your belongings." [Oh my! Not only a gentleman but well spoken!]

As Kasumi fussed about packing her bags, she didn't notice that Ranma had moved Tofu's body underneath the bed, nor would she have noticed Tofu's eyes opening with carmine pupils and his mouth dripping in anticipation of her fresh flesh. So intent was she on packing she didn't hear his howls from under the mattress.

---

Ranma made it just in time to the dying, his flesh was already draining of color, and it wouldn't be long before he turned into one of _them_. He recognized it as Ryoga Hibiki, or at least his analog in this universe. He had suffered numerous bites and his eyes were gouged out.

"Who is that?" he asked in a feeble voice.

"A friend."

"Ranma."

"Yeah." There was a pause.

"Ranma please kill me! I'm dying, I know that, but please my friend don't let me turn into one of them, I don't want to be getting up once I'm down!" He was grasping at Ranma's clothes in desperation. "Please Ranma"

"A-alright." His voice was horse, even if he was an analog, no one deserved this fate.

"Thank you." These were his last words before a cougar bullet pierced his brain and exploded the head in a hail of gore. Ranma waited until the body finished convulsing on the ground and the blood flowing from the neck slowed to a trickle before raising to his feet. He wouldn't let this happen to the other.

---Tendo Dojo---

Kasumi was just opening the door to the hallway when Tofu broke free. Sailing through the air, the mattress hit the far wall while the good doctor groped feebly for his prey. Shining shards of his glasses dripped fluid from his gaping sockets and his ichor ran down his legs in thick streams. Incoherent gibbering erupted from his maw throughout his blind quest for Kasumi's flesh. "Kasumithe pain! Brains! Yes, Kasumi, I can smell your brains! Oh! The pain!"

She screamed then ducked behind the bureau as he lunged at her. The sight of an eyeless, bleeding reanimated corpse would be shocking to anyone, but this used to be her husband! He stumbled out of the room and grasped Kasumi's leg, using it to pull her closer.

---Furikan HS---

Ranma was flustered to say the least. Hinako Ninomiya was his old school teacher back home and he remembered her being kind of an exhibitionist but this analog was just nuts! He remembered her as a sultry tall woman with brown hair and huge breasts that came to school in extremely short skin-tight dresses. This analog was a twelve-year old child that became a stunning woman only after sucking someone's ki. Luckily he had plenty. As he was freeing her from the rubble of Furinkan HS, his CODEC beeped with a warning.

"ALERT! ATTENTION AGENT SAOTOME! TWO NEW ZOMIBIE CARRIERS DETECTED AT POINTS TXV-56 AND TXV-32!"

"Wha-that's right here!" He spun on his heel just in time to see a misshapen mass begin dining on a fallen comrade. "Hinako? C'mon!" He knelt to allow her onto his back.

"Ranma! I can't do that! I'm your teacher, what would people think!" As the carrier finally began it's slow shamble towards them, her fear overran her sense of modesty and she leaped onto his back as he coiled his legs and sprang to the rooftops. "I hope you know what your doing Mr. Saotome," she cried indignantly, "if you don't I'llwhen did you get so old?"

"You'll have to forgive me but we gotta get out of here! I'll tell you later." The other ZOMBIE listed by his CODEC was inside the Tendo household, [Probably that guy I shoved under the bed.]

---Tendo Dojo---

"Ahhhh!!!!!!! S-somebody help me!!!!" Tofu had pulled her down and was dragging her under him. His mouth frothed in anticipation of her wet brains grinding between his teeth. These said teeth were then kicked out of his mouth as Kasumi valiantly struggled in his grasp.

"Hold it right there!" Skidding into the hall, Ranma dropped Hinako on the stairs and retrieved a moonraker laser from his CODEC. "Kasumi! Drop!"

She flattened to the floor, just as Ranma finished prepping the laser for a wide-beam attack. Tofu gibbered impotently in rage as his quarry was denied him, his arms rose and his skin flapped up, exposing the muscle and tendon rippling underneath. The laser emitted a steady beep as it began calibration and finally Ranma discharged a blast that blew the entire left side of the Tendo house for mile. The house, without the extra support, crumbled, spilling the three into the tearoom.

"Is everyone alright?" Ranma dusted himself off and helped Kasumi off the floor. "Hinako?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Now would you please explain what you're doing? I've never heard of students carrying around that kind of weaponry." Her yellow dress stretched as her breasts heaved up and down with each breath of air, her hands were at her sides.

"I'd really like to Hinako, but I don't think you'd really understand the situation you're in." Just as Kasumi latched onto him, sobbing, his CODEC rang once more.

"AGENT SAOTOME! DANGER! BIOTCH DIMENSIONAL GATES COMPROMISED! SUGGEST RETURN TO HEADQUARTERS JUMPSTATION IMMEDIATELY!"

He scratched the back of his head nervously. "You heard the computer folks, time to go home." Before either of the women could contest, he had flipped the return switch and they were enveloped in the glowing halo.

---Safe haven jumpstation---

Biotech was in an uproar as ZOMBIE carriers overran the labs, destroying the circuitry needed for dimensional jump. Ranma and co. landed just in time to see Choiler ripped to pieces and dragged off by the howling creatures. He sprung into action as the creatures swiveled their dripping eye sockets towards the group. Mine-throwers, grenade launchers and magnums appeared in their hands as the group began tearing into the crowd of decaying flesh. Arms, legs, heads, various body parts flew through the air as one after another, the hoard was wiped off the Earth.

Silence reigned in the control room, broken only by the sporadic sizzle of the ruined circuitry strewn around them. Kasumi and Hinako dropped the firearms immediately and fell to the floor in shock, Ranma, used to this level of gore, wrapped them in blankets and urged them back to the dimensional pads. "I'm gonna send you two to the safe haven. You'll be safe there." He kissed them both before stepping back. "I love both of you, that's why I do this. Remember me. Tell my superiors that I'll be along just as soon as I can."

With a tear streaking his cheek, Ranma pressed the recall switch and shut his eyes as the women disappeared into the safe dimension-he knew they'd survive. He knew them all too well.

Turning to the almost ruined control panel, Ranma punched in the coordinates for home. Sighing and making sure the machine took the commands, he redeposited the weapons in his CODEC and stepped aboard the pad. The energy washed over him as the warp took place, his last sight before disappearing was of the panel exploding and his very body disintegrating.

---General Ranma Timeline---

"Ughwhat the hell happened?" The sun blazed in his burnt eyes. The sky was blue againnot the artificial green polydomes that encompassed the sky in the Biotech safe haven. "What the hell?! Where am I?!?" The CODEC chirped at his side. A lighted green display emerged from his belt, thousands of flaming dots centralized in one area, an area not twenty miles from here. No matter the dimension, Ranma was an agent, and where there were ZOMBIE, he was needed. [This dimension may just be on the threshold of an outbreakmight explain why I see such a centralized reading. I doubt the authorities can handle it.]

Depressing a switch, the mainframe null-space opened with brilliant light. Moments later a Cougar Magnum Special' landed in Ranma's hands. Equipped with a laser targeting system, a silencer, twin sniper lens, and freeze round compatibility it was his weapon of choice. Unlike magnums of this world, his was made using a magazine holding a maximum of sixty-six bullets. He smashed in a fresh clip.

"Ranma!! Ranma Saotome!!" A young man wearing a yellow tie-dyed bandanna leapt into the abandoned lot he stood in. "Don't think you'll get away this time! Pretty sneaky, even for you Ranma. What better place for a settling of the score than the very place where it began." He flashed a toothy grin.

"Ryoga?!? I don't have time for this!" He flashed his index and middle fingers before his eyes and black shades and his skin-tight black kevlar suit appeared. He lifted the magnum and pulled the automatic switch. "I'm going. I don't care what kind of petty squabble you have with Ranma, but I have a job to do." He quickly took to the roofs.

"Wait! That's odd" Ryoga scratched his chin thoughtfully, "he usually insults me first." A double-take occurred. "Waitaminute! What the devil does he think he's doing! And since when did Ranma use a gun?" Ryoga was left with nothing to do save shake in fury.

---

"ATTENTION! MASS CARRIERS DETECTED AT COORDINATES TXV 418! SUGGEST IMMEDIATE ELIMINATION!" The CODEC blurted out maneuvers for the attack. Ranma casually leapt over three roofs in a row, content in his new abilities. I'll figure out later where I am, right now I've gotta stop that outbreak.

The trail led to a spacious park. It being spring, various couples were enjoying boat rides, completely unaware of the horrors lurking a few feet below them. ZOMBIE carriers were either killed (when in small groups) or warped out (in the case of whole towns). When warp was necessary, the mainframe selected a dimension for transport, usually a dead one. From time to time came a flub like this. Several thousand carriers were warped underneath this city, and it was up to Ranma to stop them. An operation needing extreme elimination tacticsRanma's favorite.

[Hmmtoo many people here for a warpgotta use the nuke.] By nuke' he meant the standard issue spray bomb used for underground ZOMBIE. The ZOMBIE seldom had enough gray matter rattling around upstairs to dig elaborate tunnels, so the bomb was designed to incinerate the offending creatures by washing through the tunnels already created. He called up the nuke and placed it on the grass.

The drill-like weapon was attached to a patchwork metal box, small enough to be held in the hand. This box held the motor and scanning systems used for the weapon's deadly mission. A blue laser erupted from the point, and Ranma carefully positioned it towards the lush grass.

To the casual observer the weapon looked like nothing more than a handheld drill, but what they failed to notice were the neutrino warheads welded to the tip. As he waited for the sensors to sweep the area for a central chamber, he smiled at the naïveté of the couples loving in the rain of cherry blossoms, he wished for the innocence he saw around him. A warble sounded. Raising it high and smashing it down, he walked away as it began burrowing into the soil.

Young lovers strolled along the lake, had picnics, and took boat rides, all ignorant of the deadly weapon burrowing through the soil and rock beneath them. As the warhead detonated all the resident's felt was a slight shift in the earth, many believed it just a figment of their imagination. Little did they know the horrible hell that almost befell them. Hungry maws and rotting bags of flesh were incinerated by purifying plasma, all vestiges of the cells infected were long since destroyed. Whistling a jaunty tune, Ranma calmly walked out of the park.

---to be continued---

Hope you liked it! C&C welcome. 

Suekeiichi Kaiton

Vze2jcwc@verizon.net


	3. Chapter Two

Rise of the DEAD

A Ranma 1/2-Night of the Living Dead crossover

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

Chapter 2-At Deep Mountains and Dark Valleys, the Night Begins

---

Ranma wandered the street, idly gazing at store-fronts and goods. Commuters on their way home from work, school, or travel, passed by him in a sea of living flesh. As the sun receded into the sky, he reached the central fountain in the Nerima marketplace. Casting forlorn glances at passerby, Ranma consulted his CODEC. Nothing but the eerie green pulse of ZOMBIE carriers greeted his weary eyes.

It was useless. He was trapped in an unknown dimension that just happened to have a ridiculously high ZOMBIE concentration, with mindless sheep that didn't see the danger that even now threatened them! The local governments were more likely to cart him off to an insane asylum than seriously consider his warnings. It was a catch-22. Quite possibly the biggest catch-22 in the short history of this world. Hopefully the girls were safe and sound in the Biotech dimension.

As his padded feet fell to the unyielding pavement, miles beneath clawed the hideous freaks of nature loosed from the bowels of Hell. Flapping shreds of skin were stripped from putrefying muscle in the undead's desperate attempt at freedom, noxious gangrenous fluids gushed from orifices as the dead heaved the dirt and clay from their backs.

Checking his pockets for anything of use in this world, he pulled out his precision laser pen, a gift from the president of Biotech himself, presented to him for valor in the line of duty. The marketplace was busy, packed with bustling housewives buying dinner for hungry families. Retrieving his satchel from null-space, Ranma set about finding his way in this world because from the looks of thingshe wasn't going anywhere soon.

[I wonder if lasers have been invented yet]

---Biotech safe haven---

"On to the next order of business Mr. President." The room was darkened accordingly as a projection screen descended from the ceiling. "The disappearance of one of our best operatives, Ranma Saotome." A profile shot shifted on screen. "The operative was apparently flung through the randomizer when the jump station's transporter was destroyed."

The president of Biotech, Yuzo Utatane, was a slight older gentleman who habitually wore a cyclopean visor. During the first breakouts of the ZOMBIE virus he had lost both eyes, now he relied on his own company's technology for his sight. He sat at the head of a massive onyx table with the commanders of various divisions seated around him.

Choiler had escaped the jump station just before the base was overrun. He was seated next to the chairman of the board, Jiro Munetaki, also head of the weapons division. "_Col._ Choiler has a report to give" Munetaki sneered at the brawny man. "regarding the probability of success for a rescue mission, a plan I strongly discourage."

Choiler stood at the holo-projector, and activated his data track recorder. "Here we have the list of possible ricochet dimensions that operative Saotome might be active in. The jump station's computer could only narrow the beam to an infested region, making the rescue operation imperative." He brought up the listing of weapons and tools recorded by the main-frame as being downloaded by Ranma's CODEC. "Mr. President, Saotome is one of our highest decorated officers, to lose such a valuable man is nothing short of insane. Chairman Munetaki has failed to take into account the homing beacon activated in Saotome's CODEC, this would greatly reduce the risks of an armed squad in an unknown world."

"I must protest Colonel!" Munetaki rushed to his defense. "We have no solid evidence pointing to any dimensions! This entire mission is suicide! Mr. President! We can't just send out a squad blind! If-"

"Col. Choiler is correct. To waste such a valuable asset is as moronic as rushing headstrong into a trap. I remember this Saotome, a promising young manwe will allocate the proper equipment and men to your division Col. Choiler." The president spoke from the shadows, the sanguine glow of his visor casting sinister shadows across his face. "This meeting is over."

As the old men plodded out of the room, Munetaki lingered over his seat. Umbrella wouldn't like this turn of eventsnot one bit

---Canon universe---

[Assuming this universe wasn't completely different, Ranma probably lived with Akane Tendo or the whole Tendo family.] Not wishing to deal with Akane's violent outbursts, he sneaked in through the back kitchen door, running straight into Nabiki.

Nabiki had just gone in for a quick snack when Ranma, dressed in a shiny kind of black bodysuit came barreling in. Kasumi had gone out for the day so she was starving, a condition worsened by Akane's vain attempts at the culinary artsor was that the creation of a new lifeform? Whatever it was, Soun spilled it down the drain. Just as she put the kettle on for tea Ranma bumped her.

"Well, well Saotome, is this some kind of new fashion statement?" The harried look on his face piqued her interest. Anything worthy of Ranma's fear was something to look into. "Just what are you doing here anyway, I thought you were going with Akane to the mall."

[Nabikihmm she's not gonna be easy to fool. Maybe if I just jump into it] "Nabiki? Do you have any contacts in the science department?"

"School or national?" [What brought this question on? Come to think of itRanma looks a bit older somehow.] 

"National."

[National? Why would he want that?!?] "Why?" Her eyes narrowed to slits. "What could you possibly offer the scientific community?"

Ranma closed his eyes, took deep cleansing breaths, and moved in for the kill. His gray-blue orbs met hers as he moved forward, pushing her to the wall. "Ranma!? What the hell do you think you're doing!?" She stumbled back, afraid of his next move.

"This" He leaned in with half-lidded eyes, covering her mouth with his. She struggled futilely for a few moments before surrendering to his touch. He cocked his head, kissing deeper, his fingers caressed her cheeks, leaving trails of liquid-fire on her skin. Her lips began to tremble as he felt slim arms encircle his waist, fingers traced the soft mounds of her breasts over her shirt. Tighter, and tighter he thrust her against the wall in his embrace. Finally he pulled away, his hands still caressing the taut fabric of her skirt and massaging her chest.

Rumpled, panting, flushed, and embarrassed, Nabiki looked up at his face. Yes, there was definitely something different about him todaymaybe for the better. Her eyes began to tear, her legs began to wobble. Tracing the raised contours of her nipples, he kissed her again, not as deeply, and released her. She fell back against her own bed.

Somehow, she was in her own room. Turning back to him, a frightened look was spread over her face. "How?"

"You just didn't notice. You had your eyes closed the entire time." He wiped a bit of lipstick off his face. Ranma sat then next to her, his body comfortably close to hers. "I imagine you have many questions to ask." He motioned her to begin.

"Who are you?" It seemed the logical question to ask. This certainly wasn't the arrogant, headstrong Ranma she was used to.

"I'm Ranma Saotome, just not the one you're used to."

"Why are you here?"

"I don't really mean to be, I'm actually sorta stuck here, but if you don't mind neither do I."

"W-why did you-"

"-Kiss me?' Because I love you."

"Love me?" Her mouth formed an O' in shock.

"Yes, you see I never got the chance to tell you that where I come from." He produced a holo-cube. "This might help."

A beam of light burst forth from the die materializing in the form of a 3-D insignia. The sign was then replaced by a hologram of Biotech's main headquarters, a skyscraper that stretched out to the company's executive offices located on the surface of the moon. The moon itself was encased in a black metal cityscape with dots of light indicating cities.

"I was born in Nerima, Japan. At least the one that existed in universe 6262, you see these-" He changed the picture. "-are carriers of the ZOMBIE virus created by the Darrow Chemical Company in quantum year 1965." The hologram was now of three misshapen humanoids shuffling forward. Before her horrified eyes, Nabiki watched as an arm fell off of one and was eaten by another. "The ZOMBIE virus slowly kills the body while leaving the brain intact. As the flesh around it decays and falls away, the pain drives the host's brain insane." The beam of light died and all was still in the room. "Do you believe me?"

"All this talk of viruses and Biotech is all well and good, but what did you mean by Yes, you see I never got the chance to tell you that where I come from?" The emotionless mask fell back into place, Nabiki the ice bitch returned. Shaken, but not toppled. "Was I in your life then?"

He flinched, such things normally would be classified, analogue citizens normally were educated at the Biotech main offices. [What the hell am I doing! This is probably much too much for her to handle, maybe I should let her rest.] "In a way. In my world, I married Akane." His face wrinkled in sourness at the memory. "But that didn't work out. It was a loveless marriage, forged because of two meddling fathers and two rather cold sisters." He looked pointedly at her. "You rejected me on sight, stating that Biotech operatives walk that thin line between life and death, I would like some financial stability.'"

Nabiki drew in a breath. Never would she do that to him, or anyone for that matter, to be cold was part of the job description, to be remorseless wasn't part of the bargain. "She really said that?"

He nodded. "Youdon't believe me after all, do you?" He pulled his satchel back from null-space.

Nabiki's brow furrowed in concentration. Did she believe him? The hologram itself spoke volumes on the truth of his words, the speak patterns and age difference finished the set. She stood now, her short brown hair pushed back behind her ears, a face of emotionless cool, the face of stone. Did she dare disturb the universe?

"Do I dare to eat a peach?" She murmured under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing, just something I read once"

"Wellwill you help me?" he was pleading now, if she didn't accept the chances of surviving long enough in this universe were slim, the materials he would need to combat the threat alone would cost billions, a constant flow of income from patents would come in handy. "Nabiki?"

Her face went through three stages, worried, insightful, and finally determined. Rising from the bed she looked straight into his eyes and took his hand.

"I'll help you." Words that would seal her fate.

---Umbrella Secret Laboratory, Raccoon City Mountains---

"How is the test subject?"

A tall man wearing black sunglasses responded. His greasy blond hair slicked back. "It seemed to be doing well since exposure. Test subject Neptune has been exposed to a 50 cc dosage for three weeks, it took two to reach the stage of mutation." He opened the observation window, a switch was located in the main control room. The walls suddenly cracked at the baseboard, the metal carapaces sliding away to reveal an operational laboratory tank. Wendell Thorten was an acclaimed bioengineer but even he had never seen the astounding level of technology and genetics in practical use before. Inside the tank of blue solution, a shadow shimmered in the distance, something menacing but not quite sure how to act. "What do you think Dr. Thorten?"

"Blue Umbrella, this was an unexpected mutation, Neptune was supposed to grow in size not mutate it's oral structure." Thorten watched as the shadow began to move closer, growing larger with each moment. 

Larger 

Larger 

Larger 

Finally it swerved to avoid the electric fields surrounding the windows. It was a shark, what had once been a mako but now resembled more something that haunted the oceans of Earth's distant past. The teeth were oversized, jutting out of its mouth as even more punctured the gray flesh of its face. A crimson cloud enveloped it, the blood seeping from its eyes casting a threatening wraith in the water. "Since the injections started it began to shed it's epidermis, something not associated with the T-virus at all! We're dealing with something new now. I don't know what to do!"

"Continue the experiments, I want the expected results no matter the damage. If the creatures own cellular structure fails I don't care! Umbrella wants this virus, Biotech is light-years ahead of us in dimensional technology." He closed the shutters and nodded at the guard. "You have your orders."

[By this time next month your people will be infected and Umbrella will have the virus. You're dispensable doctor, but your work is not.]

---Japan, Nerima Ward---

"So what happened to the real' Ranma?" Nabiki sat at the kotatsu as Ranma sought to fix his CODEC. The device lay open on the table, various circuits strewn across. He was working with a phaser driver, a microscopic type of screwdriver that could fix and weld the hairline fractures on wires. Nabiki paid it no mind, she'd probably never understand anyway. "I mean he didn't just disappear when you came did he?" A Ranma without a curse would cut into a well stocked market she had built from the ground up. However, this Ranma seemed to be a far more lucrative business venture.

"Wellhe couldn't have disappeared. Dimensional travel is nothing like time travel, but he could have been bumped into another place here on this world, one where he could do some good." He replaced his pince-nez microscope back into null-space. "There! Good as new!" He welded the CODEC back together.

"'Where he could do some good?' That sounds pretty vague to me" She chose not to press the matter any further, his attention seemed focused on the device at his side. "So what's that? Something you want to sell?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I'd never sell this." He depressed a green pad on the side. There was a blinding burst of light and a pile of various weapons and odd-looking futuristic tools appeared on the table. "Now let's see what I've got."

Nabiki just stared at the pile, her mouth having gone dry. The weapons themselves would fetch a pretty price from a heavy industries corporation, while the tools would make any engineer drool in anticipation. A finger reached out to gently probe an intriguing artifact when his hand shot out, encircling her wrist.

"Don't touch that! Do you want to kill us!" She snatched away her arm and pouted, boring eyes hard as flint into his. He retrieved the odd looking sphere and placed it next to his bag. "That's a miniature bomb, it may look small but inside it holds enough compressed plasma to blow this whole block away. Something dangerous from the twenty-third century." He cocked the hammer of a rifle possessing an oddly twisted barrel.

"Twenty-third century? I though you said you came from another dimension, not another time."

"Well, it's kinda hard to explain, you see, Biotech designed time travel technology as well. I got this fusion injection launcher from the future as well as most of the high tech tools I use. It's just easier than designing them all over again." He fingered a silver ball. "Catch!"

Nabiki screamed and dove under the table as the sphere bounced off her head and careened off into the yard. Recovering slightly but still seeing red, she tore into him. "What the hell did you do that for! You could've killed me! Wasn't it you who just said that thing could blow this entire block? What the hell game are you playing at!?!" She flung a hand back to slap him when she realized he was laughing, laughing! "What's so funny you jerk!?!"

Ranma was rolling on the floor in hysterics, she actually thought it was the bomb! "Nabiki-chan, that wasn't the bomb, that was just something I want you to have."

"How could you tell the difference between the two?" A valid question asked but the answer confirmed her belief.

"I just knew. Now will you get that back? I have something to show you." She ran out onto the deck, her hair whipping wildly as she scanned back and forth for the device. Finally she spotted it floating in the koi pond. She dried it off with a dishtowel then handed it back to the weary traveler. "Now, Nabiki I want you to watch closely." He pressed the single switched etched into the equatorial line and a white beam bathed his head in holy light. "Choker, silver and white gold, Egyptian design circa 185 BC Diamond and ruby inlaid." The light had flickered with his syllables and reacted with a short tone to acknowledge his request. "Now watch."

He placed the orb on the table, a flattened portion preventing it from rolling away. The ball flickered a yellow light then produced a beam similar to the one that scanned Ranma, a steady whine pierced the air complimented by the shower of sparks falling to the table. As Ranma smiled, an ornate choker of arabesque design appeared in the haze, the diamonds sparkling in the sun. Nabiki's eyes almost fell out as he picked the jewelry off the table and presented it to her, offering it in a disturbingly Grecian manner.

"My lady, I hope beyond all hopes that you will accept this humble token of my gratitude." He slid it into her shaking hands, the cool metal setting her skin afire. "Don't worry it's real. Just as real as we are." He stood from the table and sauntered around her, clipping the golden clasp around her neck. She looked stunning with it on, Cleopatra reincarnated!

"H-how did you do that? Your giving this to me?" She studied the stones pressed to her tanned flesh. "Why?"

"Because you're helping me, helping me save your world." Ranma turned back to the CODEC, where a vast green area the size of Manhattan glowed with sinister color.

"AREA INFESTED. SUGGEST STRATEGIC RETREAT TO SAFE HAVEN. WEAPONS AVAILIBLE NOT ADAQUTE."

---to be continued---

Questions? Comments?

Vze2jcwc@verizon.net 

By the way, if anyone out there reading this happens to like my stories (big if') and maintains a fanfiction web site, I'm in dire need. I own a MAC, so I can't post on the RAAC, but I do have several interesting Ranma 1/2 stories. Many of these offer different beginnings or alternate fiancées, for instance Kima, Hinako, Nabiki, or Kasumi. If anyone is interested I'd really appreciate it!


	4. Chapter Three

Rise of the DEAD

Chapter 3: The One Who Survives

"Speech"

[Thoughts]

"CODEC"

Chinese

---Dunwich, Miskatonic Valley USA---

Tired, oozing blood from over a dozen wounds and covered in a layer of soot and maggots, George crawled through the muddy leaves of the cemetery. A stout man with salt-and-pepper hair, he weighed close to three hundred pounds, perhaps explaining why three flesh craving ZOMBIES lurched forwards from the grave. Oily hair caked with blood felled forward into his eyes, the viscosity of the coagulating fluid gluing it firmly to a stubbled cheek. Maggots fell from his long hair, squirming into the grass as he reached the wrought iron gates of the graveyard. Squinting through the amorphous fog, twin headlights filtered through the darkness, dredging up some primordial hope in his heart.

He had come with his sister to place a wreath on their father's grave, Jonathan Russo had dropped dead of a massive brain aneurysm twenty years ago that day, it had been a Sunday. While driving through the cemetery, they were attacked by twin madmen near the crypts, eyeballs dangling grotesquely from their sockets. They were misshapen monsters, tall lurching creatures whose worm-ridden faces gorged themselves on sister's flesh. He ran through the graves, his soft-soled shoes crunching the stiff, brittle leaves underfoot.

It came first as a lingering sigh weaving a rich tapestry of pain through the area. The harvest moon bulged hideously from the night-sky gazing at the proceedings with disinterest, and then it became an incessant moaning cry echoing from the pit itself! The ground under his feet began to churn with movement, fleshless fingers grasping for the freedom of the upper realms. Mottled hair rose from the mire, a gleaming skull shining in the light of the moon, with it came the head, a mass of eye and tooth.

The wrought iron gates slammed shut, his numb fingers fumbling with the padlock before latching it firmly to the chains. They were approaching now, he could see their amorphous shadows weaving through the graves while others pulled themselves out of the mud. He ran for the van, knowing that the locked gates would not soon hold so many of their kind. The headlights were on high, their occupants long dead. George scrambled into the back, tripping over half-devoured corpses, and fired the engine. Outside the creatures were already amassing against the iron hinges.

"Damnitt!" He swore as the van lurched forward, a black plume of smoke spilling from the muffler. The undead had broken through now, shambling their way towards him, smelling his living flesh. Putrid gray skin flaked off their rotting limbs as they brushed their hands against the doors. The van began to move, albeit slowly, then finally sped up, leaving the decaying horrors to seek out closer food.

[Never thought I'd make it out of there alive! Thosethose things just ate Barbara!] He passed several others on the road back down to Willard, freshly dead neighbors and friends following the trail of his scent. Two hours had elapsed by now since the horrific occurrence at the cemetery, and not once did he see any signs of a human settlement. The monstrosities wandered aimlessly around the farms in the area, there were no more living beings in the area. Willard was now a city of the living dead.

Unbeknownst to him, the three corpses lying back in the van began to stir. The female, at one time a beautiful girl with blue eyes, vomited up her intestines on the floor, her internal organs too badly damaged as the group mauled her. Her eyes had been gouged out, bleeding sockets dripping rivulets of crimson, staining the faces of her compatriots. The men, each missing vital portions of their faces, scrambled to their feet between the rocking and bumps from the drive, their noses and lips ripped off and devoured.

George didn't hear them sneak behind him until it was too late. He didn't even feel it as the ghouls ripped his larynx out.

---Japan, Nerima Ward. Nabiki's bedroom---

"ATTENTION! ZOMBIE OUTBREAK DETECTED IN THE UNITED STATES! SUGGEST IMMEDIATE ELIMINATION TO DECREASE CHANCES OF MASS OUTBREAK!" His CODEC warbled as the voice sputtered and died after it's impromptu speech. Things were not going well, the USA would soon be overrun with carriers and there was nothing he could do. As soon as carriers appeared in sizable numbers the area had to be wiped clean, nothing could stop them, he just hoped no one infected escaped the country.

"What was that?" Nabiki awoke, her eyes fluttering open. Not the best type of morning person, she hadn't wanted to wake up from the safety and security of her warm bed especially with Ranma dozing next to her. They were in the spoon' position, his arm nestled under her breasts, she couldn't remember the last time she felt so safe, so secure, so loved. He grunted from behind her, pulling her closer.

"Don't worry about it, I'll deal with it." He inhaled deeply the scent of her hair. She was sleeping in one of her father's old dress shirts and panties, he had put his jumpsuit in the wash and lay in just a muscle shirt and boxers. Her silky legs intertwined with his under the covers. "The CODEC will scan the satellites around your planet for information on any kind of outbreak."

"Come on, I have to get up for school." She ripped out of his arms, throwing the covers off them both. "You'd better not let Akane see you like this in my room."

"She anything like my Akane?" He leaned forward on one elbow.

"Definitely." Baring her nude body before him while getting dressed, she struck a suggestive pose. "You like?" She ran her hands over her breasts.

"Definitely." Suddenly he was out of bed, tackling her to the floor, his thigh pressing urgently into her crotch. "I like it a lot." The kiss was blissful, her tongue darting in and out of his mouth.

"Come on then lover boy, let's hit the showers." She threw on her bathrobe, offering him another one. Together they made their way to the bath. Undressing, neither embarrassed by their shared nudity, they washed, rinsed then soaked in the furo.

"It's spreading." Ranma's tone dropped significantly. Nabiki stiffened as their conversation returned to one of business. "Those contacts I asked you about yesterday won't be needed, soon the plague will spread all across the globe." He laid a warm hand on her foot. "It's already starting in the US."

"W-what do we do than?" She was worried now, the prospect of those creatures across the world chilled her to the bone. The plague would spread to all corners of the globe, chaos would reign supreme, society would fall, the world would be plunged into anarchy! The prospects of that kind of world would be enough to drive her to suicide. "If we can't stop it then what do we do?" He had already told her last night he hadn't the weapons to fight off a major ZOMBIE offensive. Aside from basic weapons and some tactical nukes, he was naked in this world. Even his soliton radar system was on the fritz.

"Start preparing. Find someplace relatively impenetrable and stockpile supplies." He stood, helping her to the door. [I'm not sure that's even a good idea, it might be better to move someplace isolated, an island maybe.] "I've activated the homing beacon on my CODEC so Biotech will send a rescue team for me." Dressed in his analogue's red silk shirt and black pants, Ranma made his way down the stairs to face the Tendo family. [This might get tricky, I hope Nabs can cover if something happens.]

"Good morning Ranma-kun! Did you sleep well?" Kasumi was busy bussing the table, laying out the rice cooker and serving dishes. Soun sat off to the side reading his paper, the headline of which read: "Mysterious disease spreads in United States of America!" The horror was yet to come. "You came home awfully late didn't you? You weren't here for dinner."

Nabs had taken a large portion of food up to her room last night, thinking it best not to reveal Ranma just yet. After sampling Kasumi's culinary skills he was eager to taste the delightful breakfast she was sure to have made. "Ahyeah! I was out late last night."

"Doing exactly what!!!!????" Akane came storming in, mallet-sama poised to embed itself into the fleshy softness of his skull. "YOU were out LATE last night because you were out with Shampoo! Or Ukyo! Or both!" The very idea stewed in her imagination, conjuring forth scenes of utter depravity she deemed realistic for Ranma to participate in. "You jerk! Both at once!?" She swung the heavy object down over his head, fully expecting his body to crumple after such an assault.

Bitch. He raised a palm to the heavens, catching the flat end of her mallet in his hand. Ending with a deft twist of his wrist and a pull from his hand into a subspace pocket, and Akane was looking down the barrel of an Armstech Ltd. 100 gigavolt linear launcher. "Don'ttry." He pumped the fuse, assured the weapon had a fresh cartridge he whipped the firearm up and pulled the trigger in one swift movement.

What the hell was that? Akane thought as he lowered the heavy piece of machinery to his side, the fuse glowing a pulsing azure. A sharp burning sensation brought her attention to her handswhich were on fire. "You jerk! What did you do that for!?!" The scent of burning wood permeated the room. Poor mallet-sama was no more than a pile of ash on the table.

"You attacked me. Be thankful I shot the weapon, not the wielder. I'm through taking your shit!" He spun on a heel, bringing the launcher to bear, his sights dead-locked on the red bow above her heart. The fuse died suddenly, the launcher cooling without the constant flow of energy. "Damn it all! Now I'll have to convert a fuse again!" Nabiki sweatdropped, laughing nervously as her family alternated between bewilderment and awe at his new weapon.

"C'mon Ranma, I have a few things you need to do before school!"

"What kind of things Nabiki?" He stashed the launcher again, patting Akane condescendingly on the head as he passed.

"Just some things to work off your debt." Nabiki grabbed his wrist and flew out the door, not in the mood for her family's questions. Thankfully her dimension's Ranma had left his school bag laying in the foyer. "I'll se you at school Akane! C'mon Ranma!" Dragging the otherdimensional Ranma behind her, Nabiki tried to arrive at school unseen by any of his erstwhile fiancées. They had just reached the school gates when his CODEC let off a warning warble.

"ATTENTION! MASSIVE OUTBREAK IN AMERICA INCREASING EXPONENTIALLY, SUGGEST IMMEDIATE QUARENTINE OR ELIMINATION OF THREAT." Ranma's face drew back, ashen, as Nabiki struggled to wake him from his trance. Fumbling in his bag, fingers shaking like branches in a fall breeze, he drew out a sleek black laptop. Before her stunned eyes, he slid the main CODEC unit off his belt and affixed it to a port on the top of the computer.

"This isn't good, I may have to use a nuke." He brought up the central satellite datatrack grid, a pictorial representation of the outbreak in America culled from the simultaneous use of six satellites. "See this red area?" The entire eastern seaboard of the US was immediately covered red. "That is the extent of the outbreak at this time." He felt her shudder as the red area grew to encompass all of the continental United States and half of Mexico. "This is how bad the plague will be in 72 hours."

"Can't you do something? I thought you knew how to deal with these things!" They were in the Phys. Ed. Storage room, a small shack by the back of the school.

"I'm an operative! I'm not a one man army! I can handle those things in _small_ numbers, not the thousands we're looking at here. As an operative, I only comb a fifteen mile radius for survivors, evade death and go back. THAT'S ALL I DO!" He was standing now, seething that Nabiki hadn't understood he couldn't do anything about this gruesome turn of events. "The main CODEC receiver has assured me that now further ZOMBIE carriers are in this area save for the multitude I destroyed when I arrived, we'd be better off going somewhere isolated, with land to farm and fresh water to drink, somewhere like a fortress."

Nabiki was normally fast in understanding abstract concepts, you had to be for her line of work, but the idea that in 72 hours the very world might cease to be seemed a distant event, not even possible in her mind. Even as the mind rejected the idea, her instincts told her that the man in front of her was speaking the truth. "I can't think of anyplace like that in Japanmaybe China?"

"Possibly, I'll have the CODEC search for places using the parameters I mentioned during class. I'll see you at lunch with my results." He leaned forward, kissing her soft lips, running his tongue over her teeth. "Thanks for the schedule! I'm gonna need it!" He called to her retreating form. [Let's see, English withMiss Hinako Ninomiya?!?]

---Biotech safe haven---

"Wow! Look at the size of the kitchen!" Kasumi almost fainted dead away as the doors had opened on her new house. After the horrific events at the jumpstation, Col. Choiler had brought it upon himself to see to their wellbeing. Hinako had gone a bit mad at the idea that there were branching alternate dimensions existing parallel to their own and had since been on tranquilizers to calm her rattled nerves.

"Kasumi, if you don't need me I think I'll take a bath and get some sleep." Hinako, in child form, plodded off to the bathroom to rinse away twelve hours worth of fatigue from the hyperlink train ride from Biotech central to the suburbs where agent Ranma Saotome's home was situated.

Mansion would have been a better description. As one entered through the main entrance they were assaulted by the enormous staircase that traveled to the far wall and split, leading to two separate landings. From the ground floor foyer was a tearoom with a paneled glass wall stretching from floor to ceiling, and the kitchen which was actually divided by a rushing stream into a sitting area and kitchen proper. The house was built into the face of a hillock, which happened to house a small spring of cold water, after this discovery Ranma had ordered the spring's waters directed _throughout_ the house with small bridges built over the canals. Thoroughly potable, the water acted as a soothing sound that echoed tranquility throughout the domicile. In a time of outbreak or plague, the mansion could be withdrawn into the hillock itself and locked for protection. Kasumi just thought the mixture of high-tech gadgetry and nature in the house gave it a quaint aura.

Hinako was still in a bit of shock considering what she had gone through. It wasn't bad enough she saw people torn to sheds and eaten by ghouls in her own world, then survived an explosion at the jumpstation, but also the Ranma that she had slowly begun to fall for was lost in infinity. Still, she had to admit, the house was gorgeous. The bathroom she had entered by crossing over a canal of fresh water was always warm, never too hot, and never too cold. Three walls of metal faced her along with a picture window on the fourth which overlooked the gardens below. A multi-tiered fountain spilled warm jets of water from the centre where one could change the temperature if they so desired. Detachable showerheads lined the far wall, soap, shampoo and conditioner lying on small shelves off to the side. After a long soak in the bathes Hinako walked off into the myriad hallways searching for a bedroom.

The second floor held four bedrooms, with ajoining bathrooms and a smaller bath; Ranma's expansive library stretched out seemingly forever at the end of the hall. Reaching a bedroom obviously made for a woman, Hinako stripped off her yellow dress, now stained with blood, dirt and less savory bodily fluids. Retreating to the soft, giving mattress in the centre of the room, her dreams were occupied by nothing more than simple fluff. The nightmares had ended.

---To be continued---


	5. Chapter Four

"It is time" The man spoke from the safety of an alcove next to the oak desk. "The outbreak has startedour mansion laboratory has been discovered."

The man hidden by the shadows swiveled in his chair, dark hair pulled back as the moonlight hit his chiseled, intense gaze. "Indeed, activate the Acheron Terminus project and inform Dr. Lydon that we will be requiring the use of his new virus much sooner than expected. See to the details concerning the witnessesI want them silenced." The tall man rose from his chair and activated a holoscreen map of Burtonville, Oklahoma. A timer appeared beside it, counting down towards the final moments as a red area burned it's way across the map. "Burtonville is a loss, the facilities have been shut down and all employees evacuated."

"But what about the chance one of the researchers could be carrying the virus?" The shadow man folded his arms in front of his chest, dark sunglasses glinting in the dark as he leaned back against the wall. "We can't risk a major outbreak within one of our installations."

The tall man chuckled lightly. "The evacuated researchers will be quarantined and observed for signs of contaminationthen they will be shot and their records destroyed. There can be no link between the B.O.W.'s and our organization. The town water supply has been spiked, and the virus has been transmitted as an airborne contagion, within twenty-four hours the town should be infested by ZOMBIES."

"I seeI'll return to Burtonville and make sure the ARMS members have been dispatched." The shadow man disappeared, the only indication of his departure the tell-tale rap of his boots against the cold marble floor.

James Landry, President and CEO of Umbrella Inc. (American Division) sat back in his chair, watching the red area completely devour the lively green of Burtonville. After a few moments he poured himself a glass of wine and began going through his reports concerning the new Tyrant modification system to the computer firewall. True, Umbrella did keep it's B.O.W. research under wraps, but that didn't mean that governments all around the world wouldn't give an arm and a leg for a fast, disposable army of ZOMBIE carriers.

Brilliant in its simplicity, Landry's plans were simple. Create a virus that when introduced into a population breeds with symptoms associated with a rash, after a gestation period of 72 hours the infected carriers become ZOMBIES and destroy the area around them. After every living thing in the area has been killed or ingested, the ZOMBIES can be easily dispatched by sub-orbital laser or firebombs. Why waste men to fight and get killed when the enemy's own population destroys itself? After the word has spread, give a little demonstration and soon all the governments in the world would be vying for the T-Virus and he would have the power to rule the world. A deep chuckle hung in the air as the first bombs began to fall.

---Title---

Rise of the DEAD

Chapter 4: Fatal Bite

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

---Wesker City, August 4, 2001, Dimension 2626---

Doctor Edward Lydon sat in his lab deep within the sewer system of Wesker City perfecting his newest formula, the G-Virus. He was a tall man, his hair cut short but left to sway around his head. Biological engineering had been his world since he was a small boy, he had dreamed of splicing DNA and creating new genomes to create B.O.W.'s until Umbrella made his dreams into reality. He had been at Harvard studying Biochemistry when a headhunter for Umbrella offered him a chance to follow his dream and create B.O.W.s for Umbrella. He was given all the equipment he'd need and all the time in the world to achieve sheer perfection.

But he didn't need eternity, Lydon only needed twelve years and the backing of Umbrella to concoct his G-Virus, a contagion ten times more powerful than Umbrella's experimental T-Virus and also more useful. Whereas the T-Virus merely mutates organisms and creates ZOMBIE carriers (living brains trapped inside dead bodies), the G-virus had the power to revitalize cellular functions and revitalize limbs as well as create ZOMBIE carriers.

Now Umbrella was sending agents to retrieve the G-Virus sample, _his_ life's work was going to become just another moneymaking scheme for Umbrella, well he would not allow that. Lydon had taken the liberty of closing off the sewer system and evacuating the lab complex, he was alone in the facility and safe from Umbrella for the time being. Time enough to test his beloved virus on himself. He had given a sample to his co-conspirator against Umbrella, knowing that the only way to escape was death he injected himself with the virus and was ripped apart by Magnation-102, another one of Umbrella's supersoldiers'. The G-Virus had worked, and his friend was soon allied with a rival company planning to destroy Umbrella's corporate monopoly. Lydon was set to join him.

The vacuum doors hissed as the automatic lock was released and three men dressed in assault gear and brandishing machine guns and gas masks burst into the lab. They looked briefly behind them, checking for possible threats before leveling their weapons on Lydon's standing form. The leader of the team latched the safety onto his rifle, when he spoke it was distorted and garbled by the gas mask.

"Dr. Lydon, we're here to retrieve the G-Virus sample."

"So you finally comeI won't let Umbrella steal my precious G-Virus, my life's work!" None of the men noticed Lydon's arm as he inserted the needle into a vein. "No one will ever take it away from me, least of all you!" Lydon fired his handgun at the leader, felling him with a bullet through the eye and had only seconds before the second-in-command riddled his torso with bullets. The hail of hot lead only stopped with the third agent slapped the muzzle at the floor, screaming about damaging the sample'. Lydon giggled at that, little did they know that he was the sample, the other vials contained portions of the virus but they needed to be mixed by an individual with his genius and experience. He coughed up blood as pain shot through his spine, nearly killing him from the shock. He watched in detachment as the agents picked up the sample case and ran off, leaving him to (presumably) die. But Dr. Lydon's story was far from over

---Wesker City, August 10, 2001---

John Wilson and Kate Irons ran through the alley as the hordes of ZOMBIES lurched after them, broken limbs flapping or crunching under foot. After the horrific experience at the mansion lab deep in the Arclay mountains, the elite members of ARMS Alpha team thought the nightmare was over, after all, hadn't all the monsters and their double-crosser met their doom? Apparently not, for no sooner had they awoken in their hospital rooms than news of a major outbreak of the T-Virus in nearby Burtonville was broadcast on the television. Sharing an intimate moment, John and Kate suited up for an escape but it was too late, the Hospital was soon infested with ZOMBIES, the tight hallways and small storerooms leaving thousands of places for the hordes to hide. 

John had heard the first scream from the lobby (their rooms were on the second floor) along with the incessant moaning of the carriers and quickly ripped out his IV and was up and in action. Grabbing the nearby nurses and staff, they snapped the cable to the elevator with a bonesaw, threw flaming tanks of oxygen down the stairs and stockpiled food and medicine from the upper floors. Kate was up soon after and the pair began to make quick trips via the service elevator and underground passage to the ARMS office in the WCPD headquarters. Mere minutes before, they had prepared in combat uniforms with all the weapons they could carry before setting off down into the lobby of the hospital.

It was strangely quiet as they exited the stairwell. No noises or moaning or screaming to alert them to possible danger, only the sound of something steadily dripping. John was the first to reach the waiting room, Kate following close behind and quickly losing her lunch at the tableaux before them.

Sixty five men, women, and children were lying on the benches, heads twisted at odd angles and patches of skin missing from their extremities. They looked like fallen dominoes, each one resting upon the other as their blood slowly dripped and mingled on the floor. The walls were filthy with bile and blood, handprints and spatters baring testament to the brutality the ZOMBIE carriers were capable of doing. John took her hand as they slowly began to weave through the aisles.

They looked at each corpse, memorizing it to remember what animals Umbrella employed, to decimate so many lives for a quick buck. A man had his intestines sitting on his lap as fluid oozed out of the rupture and dribbled on the floor, a woman's eyes were torn out and her breasts ripped off, a child's larynx was torn out and whitish vomit stained his overalls. This was the face of true evil, not the ZOMBIES nor Magnation-102 had been evil, it was the individuals responsible for their creation that were the monsters. Kate knelt down to close a poor old man's eyes.

A cacophony rose, moaning, sighing, and shuffling, as the entire group stood from their seats and swiveled broken necks at the two living humans. The room was full of ZOMBIES, they shambled closer and neither ARMS member could think of a way out. All the bodies had been alive from the moment they arrived, waiting for the opportunity to strike. John gripped Kate under his arms, attempting to shield her from the din before a heavy roar exploded across the hospital. The ZOMBIE masses dispersed as they were systematically mowed down by a gattaling gun mounted to the back of a military truck.

"Get the hell out here! I can't keep this up fer long!" Richard blasted the group with bullets as his compatriots dashed out of the lobby and leapt into the back with him. They barely had time to grab hold of the sides before Sarah gunned the engine and the last members of ARMS alpha team were rocketing down the street. "Whew! What is this!? I can't believe the virus spread so fast, no sooner than Sarah and I could get suited up, these monsters come scabbling towards us!"

"Umbrella's behind this, they don't want witnesses" John helped Kate move further into the back, closer to the driver's seat. The truck had a metal canopy and a sliding back door so they were realatively safe from the shambling ZOMBIES wandering the streets. "I'm sure they purposely set those ZOMBIES in the hospital, trying to kill us before we could talk."

"I can't believe" Richard set his head down and sat heavily in the seat attached to the gatteling gun. In his middle forties, Richard Laughton was spry and resourceful, earning him a place as munitions expert for the ARMS Wesker City branch. After serving in Vietnam, Richard Laughton became a SWAT team member of the Wesker City Police Department, eventually meeting the deceased leader of ARMS Alpha team. Richard was instrumental in the creation of ARMS (Autonomous Rescue Mission Squad) and possesed more than a soft spot for Kate as he had saved her many times during the fiasco at the Arclay Mountains Umbrella laboratory. His special Colt Python shined in the dim light of the truck at his hip. "All this destruction just to get rid of us"

"Sarah? Do you think you can get us out of here?" John poked his head up front where the young member of ARMS swerved to avoid oncoming ZOMBIE creatures.

"I sure can, John but this truck is running out of gas so we're going to have to find a safe haven to hold up for the night. One thing's for sure, though, no one in their right mind would even think of entering Wesker City now"

---Nerima, Japan. Canon Universe---

Ranma flipped from one set of bars to the next, tucking his feet to his chest as he hauled himself for a quick push-up, swinging a few times to build momentum before vaulting high into the air and grasping the convientent pair of rings above. From there Ranma bounced like a mad rubber ball, from wall to wall, floor to ceiling and back again as he preformed his arieal acrobatics. As an operative for Biotech, he had to be in prime physical condition for his missions and be able to keep crowds of ZOMBIES away long enough to disperse them enough so that they could be disposed of in an expediant fashion. Of course, his idea of training was meditation, ki training and gymnastics, but sometimes a ki ball doesn't put much of a dent in two hundred hungry monsters.

The class watched in awe as Ranma finished with a perfect dismount from the ropes, feet straight and hands extended. Never before had Ranam taken the initiative to show off for his classmates but today was something different, nothing seemed to stop him! Even Nabiki hadn't been able to stop his antics, which was saying something — if the Ice Bitch of Furinkan couldn't make him bend to her will, what chance did his classmates have?

Exhausted but at peace, Ranma collapsed onto the bleachers. Exercise was always the best thing to get his mind off the depression of losing another dimension to Umbrella's sick ambitions. When he'd first started as an operative he'd needed intense psychotherapy after each mission, as all green agents do, and anti-depressants. The reality of seeing your friends or aquaintences dead or even worse was something not everyone could cope with and Ranma dealt with it hard. This became the driving force behind his marriages to refugees. Speaking of which, Ranma began to wonder how Kasumi and Hinako were coping in the safe haven, were they well? Were they ill? Were theydead?

"RANMA!!!" Nabiki screamed in his ear.

"What!? Huh? Did you say something, Nabiki?" Ranma barely noticed her approach in a tight white shirt and red gym shorts until she bellowed in his ear.

"Did you find someplace safe yet?"

""

"No?"

"The best place would be a high mountain in China, I've got the coordinates but it'll be a temporary base at most. We could last for a few years, maybe more before the barriers break down and the undead flood the region." Ranma looked down, no matter the skills he possesed, this world was done for long before he arrived.

"That's great! A few years would give your organization time to send reinforcements!" Nabiki smiled and clutched his arm before she felt him stiffen in her grasp. "What's wrong? We'll be okay!"

"Will we, Nabiki, will we? Biotech won't waste time or resources looking for me, my kind are a penny a piece. Besides, they'll just register this dimension as a loss, not even worth investigating." It was true, if the contamination factor went above 90% Biotech wouldn't waste resources; by the time the rescue team arrived this world would already be 96% lost, his CODEC had already done the math.

"We'll get through itI know we will."

"I'm sorry I can't share your optimism." Ranma turned away as the bell rang for class to end, one thought weighing heavily on his mind. [How did it spread so quickly?]

---Biotech safe haven---

"Sir! I have strange readings coming from an uncharted dimension in strand D." A technician swivled to face Colonel Zentaro Choiler on the main security hub of Biotech region 9. It was kind of strange to be talking to your commanding officer when you knew quite plainly that he was dead. Biotech regulations only permitted two analogues per safe haven; this was the other Zentaro Choiler.

"Well what are you waiting for, son, get me details on the double!" Choiler sat back in his seat and brought his hand to his mouth. "Are there any indications that Agent Saotome is in the area, any feedback from his tracer?"

"Not directly sir, but we are reading abnormal kinetika readings, it is enough evidence for the Security Council to declare an investigation. The dimension shouldn't have any type of technology that produces kinetika waves, only Biotech jumpers produce those readings."

"Biotech jumpers and Umbrella specimen capsules" Choiler shook his head free of cobwebs and wiped his eyes, the late nights were beginning to get to him. "Start an investigation, I want to know if Agent Saotome is in strand D, I expect a full report on my desk in the morning." He sat up from the command chair and stretched, popping his vertibrae and neck. "Good night gentlemen." A chorus of voices sounded from the darkened room, every technician working to try and locate Saotome. Perhaps it was about time he paid a visit to those two women he retrieved from his last mission, perhaps they might provide a clue to his whereabouts

---Dimension 2626, May 5, 2002---

"Greeetings, you must be the lovely Jessica Wilson." Jess turned from the ornate doors leading into the island 'palace'. A shadow in the back of the ruined pillars moved forward into the light.

"Wh-who are you?" The brunette reached for her pistol as a sleek head of black hair rose from the dusty darkness.

"Let's just say I'm a ghostcoming back to haunt your dear brother" The man shoved the dense masonry aside with little effort and stepped towards the dais, hard steel-plated boots rapping against the cobblestones.

She couldn't see his eyes. Instead all she saw were two mirrored lenses of smoky blackness but it was clear there was something going on behind them. The man was slight, probably around her brother's height and weight, about five-ten and 165 pounds with slicked back raven hair. She unconsciously pressed herself closer to the doors as he approached all in black, from black fatigues to the ebony kevlar vest dotted with pockets. She knew who he wasJohn had told her all about the debacle in the Arclay Mountains.

"Dufresne?" 

The man chuckled under his breath. "It seems there's not much explaining to do, is there?" He dramatically stretched his arms out wide. "I was the one who attacked this island. Who'd have thought you'd be hanging about? All the better for me now that the cat has dragged in this lovely surprise!" He chortled evily as Jessica raised her berreta and bore down on his forehead.

"I don't know what went on between you and my brother, but he's not the kind of person you think he is!" In a flash she was disarmed and her hand broken, the handgun shattered at his feet. The man called Gregory Dufresne sneered as she clutched her bleeding hand and grabbed her roughly by the chin, his strength so great that she was lifted three inches off the ground. She could feel the supple black leather glove strain and flex over his iron grip.

"I despise John!" Dufresne threw her behind him and gloated in victory as she cried out. Only her groans and the muted tap of his footfalls filled the air as he sauntered closer to the prey. "Oh! How your brother will weep to see you die! Ha, ha!" A steel boot crushed her shoulder; a few quick twists dislocating the joint painfully.

Jess looked up at the turn-coat ARMS leader and spat in his face even as the pain threatened to burst her heart. She wouldn't beg for her life, John wouldn't have wanted it that way, she would follow in his footsteps and foil the bastard's nefarious plans. The leader of ARMS Alpha team laughed in glee as the splintering of bone and screams of pain filled his head.

This was it for her.

Dufresne was just about to stamp the life out of her, crushing her ribcage, when he stepped off and brought a hand to his ear. "Hmm? Yes what is itstay there, I'm coming." He looked down and, seeing her try to recover, kicked her savagely across the cheek. "It seems you still have some purposeI'll let you live a little longer" Suddenly a triple chorus of muzzle flash illuminated the plaza and Dufresne flew through the air, blood flying from his throat.

"Dufresne!" John ran up to his fallen sister from the gate on the west side and cradled her body as Richard and Kate covered the traitor's body. Sarah gave them all the 'thumbs up' from the roof of the palace, easing in a new strip of ammo into her machine gun. "Did we get him?"

"I don't know, Kate do you think he's still alive?" Richard's ridiculous question was answered as the dark shape leapt over them in a feat of superhuman skill. He wiped a trace of blood away with his black glove.

"JohnI had hoped to end your live myself but this seems to be your lucky day." He turned around swifty and everyone present noticed the trailing corona of red spill from his eyes. "When next we meet don't count on another." The double-crosser broke through the iron gate and disappeared down the stairs towards his waiting jet.

"ATTENTION! UMBRELLA CORPORATION CEO GRAHAM ISLEY REQUESTS YOUR IMMEDIATE RETRACTION FROM CURRENT DIMENSION ON GROUNDS OF INSTABILITY!" 


End file.
